Shoe-form



P. J. McGRATH.

SHOE FORM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, I920.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

ATTO R N PATRICK J. MGGRATH, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SHOE-FORM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

Application filed February 24, 1920. Serial No. 360,837.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK J. MCGRATH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Shoe- Forms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shoe forms and its main object is to provide a shoe form especially adapted to lengthen the life of the shoe and preserve its shape. A further object is to provide convenient and safe means for warming and drying damp or wet shoes, and particularly to safely and quickly warm shoesbefore they are put on in cold Winter weather. The latter use is of much importance as it increases the comfort of the wearers of shoes treated inthis way as. well as benefiting their health by preventing colds and illness due to wearing cold and damp shoes.

It will be found very beneficial to shoes to be able to dry the linings when the feet have perspired, thus preventing them from rotting and preventing the rotting of the threads in this and other parts of the shoe.

The means I prefer to employ for accomplishing the above objects, together with other features of my invention not hereinbefore mentioned but which will appear as the description progresses, are illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my improved shoe form on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross section of the heating coil. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the heating coil. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the member 9, and Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic View showing the wiring connections for my invention.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in all the figures of the drawing.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that the contour of my improved shoe form is made to conform to the shape of the interior of a shoe. The said form is preferably made of thin sheet metal, and is composed of two main parts, a toe piece designated by the numeral 2 and a heel piece designated by 3.

I preferably provide telescopic means for connecting the toe piece and heel piece together, and in the form shown herewith the forepart of the heel piece fits into a tubular portion in the toe piece and can be slid to and fro to lengthen or shorten the form taken as a whole. The numeral 4 designates the portion of the heel piece which slides into the toe piece 2, and 5 designates the tubular portion of the toe piece.

The toe piece and heel piece fit the fore and rear parts of the shoe respectively quite closely, and when fixed in any given position within the telescopic limits can be readily slipped into a shoe of the size for which it is set. Any suitable means may be provided to hold the two members 2 and 3 in their relative positions, but the means I prefer to employ consist of a step-by-step holding mechanism having a series of notches 6 into which a spring-pressed member is adapted ,to beforced and held. The notches are arranged in a strip of metal joined to the upper part of the toe piece and designated by the numeral 7, and a slot 8 is provided in the outer wall of the toe piece 2 near one face of the part 7, running lengthwise of the shoe form as illustrated in Fig. 2.

A member 9 is rovided which is normally held in one of tlie notches 6, and consists of a stem 10, a head 11, and a side projection 12 which is shaped to fit the notches. The lower end of the stem 10 is made fast to a flat spring 13 fastened to the interior of the tubular part of the heel piece, and said spring normally holds the projection 12 in one of the notches 6. lVhen it is desired to change the length of the shoe form, the head 11 is pressed and the stem 10 is pushed down, disengaging the side projec tion 12 from its notch. The heel piece 3 is then pulled farther out of the toe piece 2 or pushed in as the case may be, and the head 11 is then released so that the side proectlon 12 may by means of the pressure of the spring 13 be pushed into the notch that is nearest to it. If the part 12 does not quite register a slight shifting of the members 2 and 3 will cause it to seat itself.

Located at the rear part of the heel piece in a suitable hole 14 is an insulating sleeve or bushing 15 which is provided with an opening 16 facing the toe piece, and which is held in place by suitable means, such as screws 17 at either side which arepassed through holes countersunk in the wall of the heel piece. At the lower part of said bushing is fastened an insulating plug 18 in which are located two terminal strips 19 and 20. Joined to the said terminal strips is an electrical heating coil. Any suitable electrical heating coil may be employed such as thecoil 21 which is preferably flexible and covered with suitable insulation, and extends forward through the tubular portion at of the heel piece into the hollow toe piece 2and nearly to thefront end of the same when the form is in its shortest setting.

The upper part of the bushing 15 is adapted to receive a plug such as 22 having suitable terminals such as the strips 23 and 24, which are adapted to fit against the strips 19 and 20 when the plug 22 is pushed down as far as it will go. Connected to the terminals 23 and 24 are the strands of the flexible conductor 25 which are fastened at the other end to the terminals of the plug 26. The plug 26 is adapted to fit into a standard incandescent lamp socket so that current can be supplied through the conductor 25 to the electric heating coil 21 of the shoe form. I ordinarily connect two cords or conductors 25 to the plug 26 so that two shoe forms can be heated at once from the same lamp socket thus enabling the user to heat a pair of shoes simultaneously. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5 which illustrate the heating coil, it will be noted that the coil is composed of a helically wound resistance wire coil 27 wound on a core 28 of asbestos, and is then wound with an outer layer of asbestos 29 thus forming a flexible and safe but very efficient heating element which is capable of giving out only such an amount of heat as will safely heat the shoe, and not sufiicient to overheat the same particularly the lining.

What I claim is 1. A shoe form comprisng a hollow toe piece and a hollow heel piece telescopically connected together and having an electrical heating coil attached to the heel piece and extending into the toe piece.

2. A shoe form comprising a hollow toe piece and a hollow heel piece telescopically connected together and having a flexible electrical heating coil attached to the heel piece and extending loosely into the toe piece, and also provided with a step-by-step fastening device for securing said toe piece and heel piece in pie-determined positions.

3. A shoe form comprising a hollow toe piece and a hollow heel piece telescopically connected together, an insulated socket in the heel piece, an electrical heating coil attached to said socket and extending into the toe piece, and a flexible insulated conductor having an insulated plug at each end, one of which plugs fits the socket in the heel piece and the other of which fits a standard electric lamp socket.

4. A shoe form comprising a hollow toe piece and a hollow heel piece telescopically connected together and inclosing an electrical heating coil for heating said form.

Signed at New York city. in the county of New York and State of New York this 10th day of February, A. D. 1920.

PATRICK J. MCGRATH. 

